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Some people in New Zealand hold a visa that depends on somebody else: a partner, or an employer. When that person becomes abusive or exploits them, the fear is often the same: "if I leave, I lose my visa." New Zealand has a small set of visas built for exactly this situation, so that you can leave safely and stay lawfully while things are sorted out. This page explains them calmly, in plain words, and points you to help that costs nothing.
This page is for someone in New Zealand whose visa came through a partner who is now hurting them, or whose visa is tied to an employer who is treating them unfairly or unlawfully. It is also for a friend or family member trying to help. Our report does not assess any of the visas on this page, and everything here is free to read.
If you are in danger right now, call 111. That is New Zealand's emergency number, and it is free from any phone.
If you are not in immediate danger but need to talk to someone, the national family violence helpline, Are You OK, is on 0800 456 450. Their services are free, and the helpline and online chat are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The visas below are free too: Immigration New Zealand (INZ, the government department that decides visas) charges nothing for any of them, and you do not need to pay anyone to ask for these protections.
There are two visas with this name: a work visa, which is temporary, and a resident visa, which lets you stay permanently. Many people apply for the work visa first, so they can stay and earn while the resident visa is decided.
INZ's page for the Victims of Family Violence Work Visa says it is for people who have experienced family violence and who "have been in a partnership with a New Zealand citizen or resident, or hold a partnership-based visa." A partnership-based visa is one you were given because of your relationship, and INZ includes people whose partner is a temporary visa holder.
The Victims of Family Violence Resident Visa is narrower. INZ says you must "have been in a partnership with a New Zealand citizen or resident, which has ended," and you must be unable to return to your home country. INZ accepts two reasons for that: you would have no independent financial support from employment or other sources, or you might be abused or excluded from your community.
For both visas, the person who hurt you must be a family member or someone close to you who was living with you. INZ's pages say the abuser does not have to be your partner: it can be another member of the household.
If you want to understand how a partner visa normally works, our post on New Zealand's partner visas explains it.
You need to show INZ that the violence happened. INZ's evidence page lists what it accepts:
INZ names who may make those professional declarations: registered social workers, registered doctors and nurses, registered psychologists, counsellors who are members of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors, and experienced women's refuge staff nominated by the National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges or Shakti Community Council. If you have already spoken to any of these people, they may be able to give the evidence INZ needs.
No. Every item on the evidence list comes from the Police, a court, or professionals who supported you. Nothing on INZ's evidence page asks your partner to sign, confirm or agree to anything. You can apply without telling them.
According to INZ's work visa page, the Victims of Family Violence Work Visa lets you stay in New Zealand for up to 6 months and work anywhere in New Zealand for any employer. The fee is NZD $0. You cannot include a partner or dependent children. If you have applied for the resident visa, INZ says you can apply for a further work visa of this type while the residence application is processed.
According to INZ's resident visa page, the resident visa lets you live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely, with travel conditions that last 2 years from when you first arrive as a resident. The fee is NZD $0, and you can include dependent children aged 24 and younger. You must also meet INZ's health requirements (a medical examination and chest X-ray) and character requirements (police certificates).
This visa is for a different situation: your visa is tied to an employer, and that employer is exploiting you. INZ describes it as a visa that lets you leave your job while the exploitation is investigated (INZ: Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa).
INZ's page sets out the conditions. You must be in New Zealand and hold a current work visa that names your employer on it (an employer-specific work visa, such as an Accredited Employer Work Visa). You must have reported the exploitation to Employment New Zealand, the government service for workplace rights, received a Report of Exploitation Assessment Letter from them, and applied within 1 month of getting that letter.
If your work visa is not tied to a named employer, this visa is not for you, because you can already change jobs.
Employment New Zealand's migrant exploitation page describes exploitation as someone taking advantage of a migrant worker, or treating them unfairly, in a way that causes economic, social, physical or emotional harm. Its examples include being charged a fee to get the job, wages not paid, excessive hours without breaks, your passport being kept from you, threats to report you to Immigration, sexual harassment, and limits on your freedom of movement.
The same page says something worth reading twice: your employment rights are the same as a New Zealand worker's, and "these rights apply to everyone and cannot be taken away", even if you are working illegally.
You report to Employment New Zealand, not to INZ. Their page gives two ways: an online form at gethelp.employment.govt.nz, or a phone call to 0800 200 088, open Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 5.30pm except public holidays. Say the language you speak when you call; interpreters are available for over 180 languages.
Employment New Zealand then assesses the report: that you are a temporary migrant worker, that exploitation is likely to have occurred, and that the report is credible. If so, you receive the Report of Exploitation Assessment Letter the visa application needs.
According to INZ's page, the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa lasts up to 6 months and lets you work anywhere in New Zealand, for any employer, as long as the work is legal. The fee is NZD $0. You cannot include a partner or dependent children, but INZ says family members who already hold visas based on their relationship to you can apply for further visas of that type.
One more line from INZ's page matters if you are frightened of your own situation: INZ says it will ignore breaches of your visa conditions, or false, misleading, forged or withheld information, if that happened as a result of the exploitation.
The visa is a bridge, not a destination: its 6 months are for finding a new job and a new visa. Be careful of anyone offering to arrange that for a fee; our guide to spotting immigration scams explains the warning signs.
Our questionnaire and report assess New Zealand's ordinary work, family, study and business routes. They do not assess the Victims of Family Violence visas or the Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visa, and no online tool should: these visas turn on evidence of what happened to you, which only INZ and Employment New Zealand can weigh. If your fear of returning home goes beyond a relationship, see our post on New Zealand's refugee and asylum protection. If you are in Canada rather than New Zealand, see Canada's immigration options after family violence.
Immigration New Zealand, Community Law Centres and Are You OK (0800 456 450) can help you with this at no cost. For the exploitation half, Employment New Zealand's reporting service on 0800 200 088 is the place to start. You do not need to pay anyone to ask for the protections on this page.
Before you pay anyone for immigration advice, ask for their licence or registration number and check it with the regulator for the country you are applying to. Immigration New Zealand explains who is allowed to give immigration advice.
Our free questionnaire and our full report do not assess the routes on this page. We wrote it because people arrive asking about them, and everything here is free to read.